Practical Responses


Depending on the nature of the organization, any or all of the following four suggestions may help in dealing with ethical issues related to nanotechnology.

Strengthen professional ethics. No one company can go it alone, especially not small and medium-sized companies, but they can work together through professional organizations to set appropriate ethical standards, with periodic review to keep abreast of rapidly changing technical and social realities.

Delegate specific ethics-related duties. Ethics should be the explicit responsibility of high-level managers and of committees with wide representation, including labor as well as management and people representing a variety of functions in the company. This can be especially important in large corporations, where there is considerable division of labor and where communication problems can sometimes be severe.

Employ outside consultants. They would not make decisions, which are properly the task of corporate management, but would frame alternatives and inform the company about the wider debate currently in progress concerning particular issues of interest. Regularly, management and other representative employees could participate in seminars or similar activities facilitated by a consultant, sometimes primarily to communicate and reinforce standing company policies concerning ethical behavior and sometimes to inform participants about new issues that are on the horizon concerning nanotechnology ethics.

Encourage leaders to be well informed. Key personnelincluding top management but also including other informal opinion leaders within the company and those who must maintain particular technical expertiseshould individually inform themselves about the new possibilities for nanotechnology and for technological convergence at the nanoscale. Expect change, and look for signs of it. For a professional, incompetence is unethical.

The views expressed in this essay do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation or the United States.




Nanotechnology. Science, Innovation, and Opportunity
Nanotechnology: Science, Innovation, and Opportunity
ISBN: 0131927566
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 204

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